Heritage of the Wolf
by Max Jenkins
Summary: Nome, Alaska, 1925 Balto, is a half-breed, he is an outcast, has been since he was born. Neither wolf, nor dog, or especially humans would accept him. He ate from scraps, and lived his life out in a beached trawler, to avoid all the pain...but one fateful day, that all changed. What happened on that day impacted not only Nome, but so much more.
1. Chapter 1

The sun crested on the horizon, splashing light onto the Earth and beginning a new day. The sunlight snaked its way over the Earth, filling every nook and cranny. It reached a small, beached trawler. It shown into the boat, signifying to its occupant that it was, indeed, morning.

The occupant in question was Balto. He opened his eyes, and then shut them, he groaned and wiped the crust from his eyes and rose up to greet the morning. 'Well, hopefully no-one else is up yet.' He thought wistfully, knowing that he would probably have trouble finding breakfast if the other dogs were up, and sadly, he really needed to watch out for the humans, they just shooed him away though, he couldn't blame them. He was not what one would call a 'dog'. He lived his life as a half-breed, a mix of two species. Those two being dog and…wolf.

He had received worse treatment though, especially from the dogs. One of them had a genuine desire to split him from his chops to his nave. His name was Steele. He saw that people were already up from a distance. As he crunched through the snow, he snuck around behind a tool shed and slouched through an alleyway. He saw a telephone and grappled onto it and from there jumped onto the rooftops of the town houses, which were all roughly two stories high.

His lanky, but strong form effortlessly leaped the gaps between each building and he kept on doing so until he stopped at a specific building, the town Deli. He jumped into a nearby snow bank to blanket his fall. His head popped out of the snow and his head swiveled from left to right, seeing no one who would hurt or notice him, he emerged from the bank and shook as to rid himself of the snow on his fur.

He walked over to the trash heap in a silver garbage can. He looked in and found himself a good, meaty piece of steak! "Why would anyone throw this out?" He said to himself, taking a large chunk of meat into his mouth, savoring its taste.

"It's because you're eating my steak."

Balto stopped and swallowed, turned around and he almost had a heart attack. Steele and his gang were all there.

'Oh my god, no.' His mind squeaked with fear.

"That was meant for me, and for beginners, I don't even think you're supposed to be here, Lobo!"

"I'm just trying to eat some food, Steele." Balto said.

"No, you don't deserve it, not a filthy thief like you." Steele spat on Balto.

"You know why you're the way you are?" Steele offered.

Balto remained silent and turned around and started to walk away.

"It's because your mother was a whore. She was such a dirty skank that she would have mated anyone, so she decided that your useless coward father would have to do." Steele answered.

"You take that back…" Balto said, turning around, growling.

"Make me. Get'em." He said to his boys. The chow, Nikki and the Chinook, Kaltag, and their mutt Star all jumped forward barking and barring teeth.

"…No, I won't sink to your level."

"I knew you didn't have it in you, just like all wolves, you're a coward." Steele said.

"Steele, come on Steele! It's time to run the mail!" A man's voice called from far away.

"You lucked out this time, but mark my words I don't want to see you in my town again. Come on boys, let's go." He said as he walked away with his posse, leaving Balto alone in the alley once more.

'That was close.' He thought to himself. He walked back to his trawler, when he arrived; he sat down and looked over the Gulf of Alaska. He put his head on his paws and started to cry. He was doing so for about five minutes until a very familiar voice asked him, "What's wrong, kiddo?"

He looked up, "Oh, hi Boris, I didn't think you'd be back from vacation so soon."

"Russia got too cold, besides, there is trouble brewing over there, something about Vodka." Boris replied.

"Oh, well nothing much has happened since you left." Balto said.

"What happened with Steele?" Boris asked.

Balto was about to lie, but he just told the truth, "He just insulted me again he wanted me to fight him so much, he insulted my parents, and he would've gotten me too, had his owner not called him away."

"Balto, I cannot tell you fighting is not the answer, some things are worth fighting for, but it is up to you on what and who you will fight for." Boris responded.

"How do I decide something like that?" Balto asked.

"You don't, but it will become clear to you when you need to know it the most." Boris said.

"Yeah, well, it's still early in the morning. It's about 8:30, so Steele's team has already left by now…I think I'll head back into town." Balto said, getting up and walking away.

"Okay, kiddo just-wait, WHAT?" Boris exclaimed.

"What are you doing come back, Balto! There isn't anything for you there!" Boris yelled again.

"BALTO!" Boris screamed.

"Are you coming or you going to stand there and get swamped at the trawler by Muk and Luk?" Balto called back, his voice growing fainter.

"I hate it when you make a point," He mumbled to himself, "Balto…wait up!" He clambered and flapped over to catch up with his adopted furry son.

[A/N: Okay, new story, leave a review please? Anyway, I ain't gonna beg ya…at least not too much…First chapter is a bit boring, I know, I'm just building up the story and doing the first introductions and blah, blah, blah, I'm rambling again. Hope you enjoyed! More to come.]-M


	2. Chapter 2

"Come on Boris, I wanna look around town!" Balto called back to his adoptive feathery father.

Out of breath, Boris called up, "I'm coming kiddo, anything other than being with Muk and Luk!"

Balto stopped and looked back at Boris, which gave the old goose time to catch up, "Aw, Boris, you don't mean that, they love you so much, why do you hate them so much?"

Boris scoffed, "I hate them because they are so annoying and loud, no one taught them any manners at all!"

"Boris, do you know why they are a bit well…weird?" Balto asked.

"No, why?" Boris responded, arching an eyebrow.

"Boris, they-," He paused and sighed, "They lost their mom some time ago, it's a wonder their as cheery as they are and plus, they remind me of me. They also think of you sort of as their father." Balto answered as he stepped over a clump of ice.

"I didn't know this…I would never do anything to hurt them, they always have me when they need me…but they are still annoying." Boris said.

"I'm glad you feel that way, for their sake. Anyways, we're here." Balto said.

"Balto, this is a pile of logs, you didn't risk yourself just for a couple of logs?" Boris asked.

"No Boris, think of the logs as a stepping ladder, I'm looking for something." Balto replied, eyeing the town's main street.

"Well, then Boy chic, what are you looking for, then?" Boris said in his heavy Russian accent, climbing up to Balto's level.

"A dog, obviously." Balto said. His eyes darted fro storefront to storefront until

"Come on, Rosie, let's go." A motherly voice called. Balto's ears pricked and he leaped from the logs, causing them to roll off each other and send Boris into a snow bank.

"Jeez, as if my old bones aren't annoying enough, sheesh it's cold! Balto, wait up!" He cried, flapping the snow off himself.

Up ahead, Balto was racing through the town. He was looking for Evelyn, Rosie's mother. Their voices were becoming even clearer now, more than before, "Mommy, when are we going to get Jenna?"

"Soon darling, soon." She giggled, "We're on our way now."

"Oh, yay!" Rosie cried, being five years old and a red head, she was very energetic.

U.S.S RONALD REAGAN, BERING STRAIT, FEBRUARY 17, 2014

"Viking 2-1, this is pri-fly, you are above glideslope, and left of the centerline, correct approach." The radio buzzed.

The F/A-18E Growler jet fighter swooped into the path of the carriers landing deck, "Roger pri-fly, wilco."

The jet got closer and closer until the pilot maxed the accelerator and barely caught the arrester cables, which jolted him to a stop. He was directed to where he needed to be by the traffic handlers and he taxied to said area. He folded up his wings and opened his cockpit, to breath in the salty ocean air.

"Nice landing, Tom!" His co-pilot joked.

"Yeah, yeah whatever Josh, I'm still getting us

ed to landing on these damn things, plus…HAVE YOU SEEN THE WATER? It's a wonder someone hasn't gone overboard yet." Tom, the F-18 driver, replied.

"Yeah, sure whatever. I am heading to the mess hall, all right? Catch ya later, T." Josh yelled over the raging sea and busy flight deck.

"I would come too, but I got a report to fill out, hang tough!" Tom yelled back. Josh waved his hand as he walked away, in acknowledgement. Tom grabbed his helmet and walked over to the island to navigate his way through the ship to get to his room. Up in the bridge, the Captain was sitting in his chair, "All ahead full helmsman. Mathews, get me a weather report."

"Yessir!" Mathews said briskly walking out of the room.

The Captain picked up a phone, "Are all our planes on board?"

"Yup, the Hawkeye just landed." The lil' Boss reported. "Get all non-air to air aircraft below deck."

"Aye, Aye." Lil' boss said. The Captain watched the flight deck as crews scrambled to get planes below deck in a timely manner.

"Sir," A radar operator called, "You might want to see this."

The Captain walked over, and was silent for a few moments. Only a sailor broke the silence, "What the hell is that?"

"Sailor…I have no idea…sound General Quarters!" The Captain said.

An alarm sounded.

"General Quarters, General Quarters, unknown radar contact 2 nmi out, report to your action stations!" A P.A system boomed.

Marines grabbed their gear, pilots rushed to their planes and gunners to their weapons. "What the hell is happening?"

Russians?" Josh said as they ran down a corridor.

"No, can't be, we're too far to be in their waters?" Tom responded, "Either way, it doesn't matter. We need to be ready five minutes ago!"

Nome, Alaska, 1925

'Jenna.'

Balto's heart felt all weird and gooey when he thought about her. She was the nicest, the most beautiful, he had ever seen with his own eyes.

"Balto."

If only he could find her. He could not just waltz into town…it would be too risky.

"Balto…"

"Maybe if he-"

"BALTO!"

"Huh? Oh, sorry Boris, I was just thinking about something." Balto said, his mind coming back to reality.

"Well, what I was trying to say was that I have no idea why you want to be here, looking for a dog!" Boris said, "It's loud, busy, and they hate you."

"Boris, I think I need some time alone." Balto said.

"Oh, oh-ho-ho no! Not after that stunt with Steele, he'll be back any time soon." Boris replied. In the time that he explained this, Balto had already slipped away.

"Oi, that boy." He said, with nothing left to do but go back to the boat.

Balto slipped into town through a broken fence. He sneaked through the alleyways to the children's schoolhouse, where he would sit in the vents of and listen to the teacher teach. Because of this, Balto had started to become a very educated dog. Although, he would probably have little need or use of this knowledge, it still fascinated him. Especially U.S history. For hours on end, he would sit there, just listening. Taking in the information.

Sometimes though, it would be impossible to stay focused on hearing the information, because his mind would always stray to the same two things.

Worrying about Steele, and thinking about her.

Thinking about…Jenna.


End file.
